COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Rancho Santiago Gets Third Victory in a Row

Rancho Santiago established itself as the favorite in the Central Division of the Mission Conference with a 47-24 victory over host Riverside on Saturday.

It was the third consecutive victory for the Dons (3-1, 1-0 in the division), ranked 25th in the nation by the J.C Grid-Wire and sixth in Southern California.

It was the third consecutive loss for Riverside (1-3, 0-1), the favorite in the division at the start of the season.

Ernie Wilson rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in 17 carries for the Dons.

Rancho Santiago had the ball for nearly 24 minutes in the first half and led, 26-12, at the break.

Riverside rallied for two touchdowns to cut the lead to 26-24 in the third quarter. But Wilson scored on a 10-yard run with 4 minutes 42 seconds left in the third to put the Dons ahead, 33-24.

Kevin Pola had 103 yards and Ace Riggins added 84 yards for Rancho Santiago. Riggins scored on a 74-yard run on the game’s first play from scrimmage.

Southwestern 28, Saddleback 28--Saddleback lost leading receiver Chris Stone (21 catches for the season) to a possible broken leg in the third quarter. Josh Payseno rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns and Shad Hinchen returned a kickoff 100 yards for Saddleback. Both teams are 0-3-1, 0-0-1.

Cerritos 34, Fullerton 19--Gary Tessitore ran for a touchdown and passed for another for host Cerritos (4-0).

Cerritos opened a 34-13 lead in the third quarter after a one-yard touchdown run by Charles Ephriam and a 10-yard touchdown pass by Tessitore.

Fullerton’s final score came when James Hartford caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Marc O’Brien in the fourth quarter.

In the Golden West water polo tournament:

Golden West wins title--John Schomin scored the winning goal in the fourth quarter to give Golden West a 7-6 victory over Long Beach in the championship game. Long Beach was the top-ranked team in the state.

Tommy Anderson scored the tying goal earlier in the same quarter. Anderson also had four goals for Golden West.

Schomin had three goals in the Rustlers’ 12-10 semifinal victory over Grossmont. Golden West took an 11-8 lead into the fourth quarter and held on.

Ryk Wormgruber also finished with three goals.

In the first round, Wormgruber had seven goals in Golden West’s 15-4 victory over Fullerton.

In the Citrus water polo tournament:

Saddleback 15, Ventura 13--K.C. Nance scored eight goals and Craig Gabert recorded six saves to lead host Saddleback (7-10) in a consolation game.